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@erynne

Hi Erynne!

I am always down for some [appropriate] romance so I naturally like writing it.

So, I’m on the other far end of the spectrum. I’m skeptical of romance nine times out of ten. I just genuinely do not like reading it.

However, I’ve found that writing it is a lot more fun, so I do have a romance sub-plot in my project.

But I got to thinking about that’s realistic. I strive for realism in my story even if it’s a total fantasy I still don’t want it to seem fake ya know?

But is it though? Friendships very, very seldom turn into romance. Romance is rarer in real life than it is in books.

It wouldn’t be fake to omit romance at all. In fact, it might be more realistic.

For a future project, I had a compatible love interest for the main character, but I decided not to have them in a romance arc during the story. I wanted to show a different relationship, so I decided to skip it. It’s implied that their relationship becomes romantic after the plot, but it isn’t really shown.

There’s this very fixed idea in media that the leading guy and leading lady will always end up in a romance. I’ve seen this pushed to pretty ridiculous lengths, like really young teenagers start dating just because they’re in the same plot.

 The problem I have though is following the “does it help the plot” rule. Meaning I put romance in every story without it benefiting tho plot.

Here’s where I disagree. Romance isn’t usually a plot device. It’s a character device. That’s why it’s a romantic sub-plot. It isn’t necessarily there to push the plot, it’s there to push the characters. If it pushes the plot too, that’s great, but it often won’t.

Put it this way, would adding a romance push the characters to develop further in a way that a deep friendship would not?

Those are my thoughts on the matter, I’d like to see what others say about it. 🙂